logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
40m 8s

Gorbachev | Meltdown | 3

Wondery
About this episode

On a spring morning in 1986 one of the most catastrophic events in global history occurs - Chernobyl. It brings chaos to the environment, chaos to Europe and chaos to Mikhail Gorbachev's premiership. Will he survive this?


Stay connected with Legacy


Follow us for clips, behind-the-scenes stories, and new episode drops: Instagram: @originallegacypodcast | BlueSky: @legacy-productions.bsky.social | TikTok: @legacy_productions


Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

legacy.supportingcast.fm


Stay connected with Legacy:

Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

TikTok: @legacy_productions


Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Tupac Shakur | Born Into the Struggle | 1
Content warning: this episode includes violence, drug addiction and references to sexual abuse.How did a pregnant Black Panther with no legal training defend herself against 156 charges, and win?Why did she name her son after the last Inca ruler, executed in Cusco in 1572?And, ho ... Show More
35m 13s
Oct 29
Inbox: Oranges, Sunshine and a Storm Coming | Sebastian Faulks
What were British soldiers doing in Palestine in 1945, between the oranges, the swimming and the bombs?Why does the Christmas show in Sebastian Faulks's Jerusalem swap Gilbert and Sullivan for Oscar Wilde?And, how did a novelist who plans everything end up with a twist he never s ... Show More
40m 43s
Oct 27
Legacy Live: Elif Shafak | 16 November, Kings Place
Come and join us live! On Monday 16 November, Peter Frankopan and Afua Hirsch will be on stage at Kings Place in London with the wonderful Elif Shafak.Her extraordinary new novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, tells the story of Gustave Flaubert, the creator of Madame Bovary, ... Show More
2m 16s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster - Part 2
Welcome to When It Goes Wrong, the podcast about disasters, accidents and when things fall apart. On this episode I discuss the the 1986 Chernobyl Disaster in which the reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl Power Plant suffered a full meltdown and explosion resulting in the worst nuc ... Show More
41m 43s
Mar 2023
THE LAST SOVIET - EP 5: Three Hot Days in August
<p>Sergei makes the decision to stay in the space station. But a few weeks later something happens that changes everything. Mikhail Gorbachev disappears. What happens over the next 3 days will decide the future of the Soviet Union once and for all. Three days that changed the wor ... Show More
28m 30s
Mar 2022
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, in the USSR, causing the worst nuclear accident ever. Sergii Mirnyi was in charge of a monitoring unit which measured radiation levels in the 30 km exclusion zone around the plant.(Photo: The Cherno ... Show More
9m 8s
May 2022
Chernobyl
In 1986, the Chernobyl power plant became the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Poisonous radiation caused over 100,000 casualties, and cost billions of dollars to clean up. Even now, the exclusion zone is one of the most polluted and heavily-patrolled regions in the ... Show More
59m 45s
Apr 2023
This Day in History - April 26, 2023
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster began in 1986. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
2m 10s
May 2024
Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | Collapse | 3
Now contending with multiple damaged reactors, engineers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant hatch a series of increasingly desperate plans to prevent a total meltdown. But several explosions and the loss of vital cooling pumps bring the entire plant to the brink of chaos. As th ... Show More
45m 1s
Apr 2020
Meltdown
In the early hours of March 28, 1979, a system malfunction began what would become the worst nuclear accident in American history. What ensued punctured the public's belief in the safety of nuclear energy and became an awful study in the consequences of communication breakdown du ... Show More
53m 13s
Aug 2022
Fighting rages in the south & assessing the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev
Day 189.Today, we discuss the continuing Ukrainian counter offensive in the south. Plus, we look at the life and legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union who died yesterday, aged 91. Contributors:David Knowles (Host). Follow David on Twitter @djknowles22F ... Show More
46m 33s
Sep 2025
83. The Man Who Saved The World: Countdown to Armageddon (Ep 4)
It’s 1983 and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. Operation Able Archer has ratcheted tensions right up, how is Oleg Gordievski going to prevent a nuclear apocalypse? Is this the greatest contribution of any spy to humanity? And what does it say about the enduring value of ... Show More
50m 34s